THE FACE
There’s a girl in the window. I don’t know her name.
Her hair is all tangled. Her eyes are aflame.
She sniggers at me like she thinks it’s a game.
There’s a girl in the window. She’s there… now she’s gone.
I sit and I wonder if maybe I’m wrong.
Perhaps it’s a trick of the dusk coming on.
There’s a girl in the window. I think I can see
a bruise on her lip and a flower (for me?)
and a palm on the pane like she wants to be free.
There’s a girl in the window up there, I said.
But they say I’m mistaken, it’s all in my head:
the lady who lived there is long, long since dead.
The above poem is based on a recurring image I have, of a girl's face in a tiny, high up window. Having shared the poem with your class, here are some suggestions for follow-up activities:
- Draw a picture of the girl in the window
- Have a discussion: Who is she? What is she? Is she real or imaginary? What is her name?
- Do some writing from her perspective: a letter; a diary entry; a poem
